Widow of Murdered Husband Becomes an Unlikely Champion of Gun Rights

From USA Today, ‘Clutching a .38-caliber revolver stashed in her sparkly blue purse makes 36-year-old Nikki Goeser feel more secure when walking to her car at night.

Goeser, who says she feared guns as a child growing up in Western Kentucky, does not take safety for granted.

“I thought they’d jump right up from the table and shoot me,” said Goeser, whose father collected guns.

But her life changed after watching a man walk into a bar in April 2009 on a rain-soaked night here and shoot her husband in the head with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. The shooter then stood over him and continued to fire rounds into his body.‘

One might think that Goeser would be more fearful of guns than ever after the love of her life was shot right in front of her. However, the widow has become a champion for gun rights in her home state of Tenessee.

Goeser believes if someone had been carrying a legal weapon in the bar that night that her husband would still have a chance to be here today.

Goeser is now making the political circuit to get Tennessee’s gun carry laws clarified, reformed and expanded.